Unit-4

JSS Academy of Technical Education

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Renewable Energy Resources

WIND ENERGY
What is Wind?

Wind is simply air in motion. It is caused by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface by
radiant energy from the sun. Since the Earth’s surface is made of very different types of
land and water, it absorbs the sun’s energy at different rates. Water usually does not heat
or cool as quickly as land because of its physical properties.
An ideal situation for the formation of local wind is an area where land and water
meet. During the day, the air above the land heats up more quickly than the air above
water. The warm air over the land expands, becomes less dense and rises.
The heavier, denser, cool air over the water flows in to take its place, creating
wind. In the same way, the atmospheric winds that circle the Earth are created because
the land near the equator is heated more by the sun than land near the North and South
Poles.
Today, people use wind energy to make electricity. Wind is called a renewable energy
source because the wind will blow as long as the sun shines.
Wind Energy is generated by harnessing the kinetic energy of atmospheric air.
Wind Energy has had been in use for centuries for several other purposes such as sailing,
irrigation and for grinding grain. Wind power systems transform kinetic energy of the
wind into useful sources of power.
During ancient times, wind power systems were used for both milling and
irrigation. It was during the early years of the 20th century that wind power was started to
be harnessed for generation of electricity. Windmills have also been used in several
countries to pump water.
Wind turbines work by transforming the Wind Energy into mechanical power that
can be used for conversion to electricity or for other mechanical purposes like grinding.
Wind turbines are used either as stand-alone units or in groups known as Wind Farms.
Small-sized wind turbines, known as aero generators are used for charging large-sized
batteries.
More than 80% of the global Wind Energy capacity is installed in 5 countries with
India at the 5th position. Wind power is the fastest growing source of renewable energy
globally with an established capacity in excess of 14,000 MW.

Wind Direction:

A weather vane, or wind vane, is used to show the direction of the wind. A wind
vane points toward the source of the wind. Wind direction is reported as the direction
from which the wind blows, not the direction toward which the wind moves. A north
wind blows from the north toward the south.
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Wind Speed:

It is important in many cases to know how fast the wind is blowing. Wind speed
can be measured using a wind gauge or anemometer.
One type of anemometer is a device with three arms that spin on top of a shaft.
Each arm has a cup on its end. The cups catch the wind and spin the shaft. The harder the
wind blows, the faster the shaft spins. A device inside counts the number of rotations per
minute and converts that figure into mph—miles per hour. A display on the anemometer
shows the speed of the wind.

History of Wind Machines:

Since ancient times, people have harnessed the wind’s energy. Over 5,000 years
ago, the ancient Egyptians used the wind to sail ships on the Nile River. Later, people
built windmills to grind wheat and other grains. The early windmills looked like paddle
wheels. Centuries later, the people in Holland improved the windmill. They gave it
propeller-type blades, still made with sails. Holland is famous for its windmills.
In this country, the colonists used windmills to grind wheat and corn, to pump
water, and to cut wood at sawmills. Today, people occasionally use windmills to grind
grain and pump water, but they also use modern wind turbines to make electricity.

Today’s Wind Turbines:

Like old-fashioned windmills, today’s wind turbines use blades to capture the
wind’s kinetic energy. Wind turbines work because they slow down the speed of the
wind. When the wind blows, it pushes against the blades of the wind turbine, making
them spin. They power a generator to produce electricity.
Most wind turbines have the same basic parts: blades, shafts, gears, a generator, and a
cable. (Some turbines do not have gearboxes.) These parts work together to convert the
wind’s energy into electricity.
1. The wind blows and pushes against the blades on top of the tower, making them spin.
2. The turbine blades are connected to a low-speed drive shaft. When the blades spin, the
shaft turns. The shaft is connected to a gearbox. The gears in the gearbox increase the
speed of the spinning motion on a high-speed drive shaft.
3. The high-speed drive shaft is connected to a generator. As the shaft turns inside the
generator, it produces electricity.
4. The electricity is sent through a cable down the turbine tower to a transmission line.
The amount of electricity that a turbine produces depends on its size and the speed of the
wind. Wind turbines come in many different sizes. A small turbine may power one home.
Large wind turbines can produce enough electricity to power up to 1,000 homes. Large
turbines are sometimes grouped together to provide power to the electricity grid. The grid
is the network of power lines connected together across the entire country.
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Wind Energy Generation

Wind turbines power generators to produce electricity that can be used for
powering homes and businesses. The efficiency is calculated from the capability of wind
turbine to harness Wind Energy.
Wind turbines function by transforming Wind Energy into electricity. Basically, the
turbine transforms the kinetic energy of
wind into mechanical energy that can
further be used to generate electricity.

Wind Turbine Blades:

The blades in the wind turbine play a

major role in this process of conversion of
kinetic energy into mechanical energy.
Usually, wind turbines consist of 3 blades
and they sit in a vertical position in the air.
A composite of plastic and fiberglass is
used for making the blades. The composite
ensures that while the blades are large in
size, the weight is minimal.
The blades in the wind turbine are attached to a double rotor assembly. When the blades
catch wind, they turn and spin the rotor. A magnetic rotor is then turned by the rotor. The
spinning of the magnetic rotor around the magnetic alternator leads to the generation of
electrical charge. A controller transforms this charge into electricity that can be used at
homes or industries.

Working Mechanism of Wind Turbines:

Wind turbines generate electricity by converting wind energy to electrical energy.

The operation of wind turbines is similar to that of fans with the difference being that
fans generate wind from electrical energy while wind turbines generate electrical energy
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from wind. The turbines make use of generators which are connected to circuits that are
battery charged and of which sent the energy that is created to big utility grids.
Practically electricity energy is harnessed from air that is in motion and basically
wind turbines convert kinetic energy to mechanical energy and finally to electrical
energy. The working mechanism of wind turbines also emphasizes on mechanical friction
that is used to automate the entire electricity generation process and do away with any
damage or shortcoming that may result due to drastic climate change.

Electricity generation:

Any effective turbine will have 3 aerodynamically architecture blades. This

makes it easier to create a rotational movement every time the blades are exposed to
wind. The blades rotate a shaft which is connected to the generator(s) which in turn create
electricity. As the wind blows, the blades make lifts that are like an airplane's wings then
the blades begin rotating.
A shaft of the lowest speed will spin between 30 - 60 times per minute. Low
speed shafts are usually connected other shafts of high speed or gearbox that makes
between 1000-1800 rotations per minute. The shafts, in high speed, operate the generator
which in turn produces electricity. An electric grid is connected to the generator. Then
from the utility wind, electrical energy is sent to consumers through distribution and
transmission lines.

Mechanical strength:

The wind turbine on itself also plays a very significant role in making the
generation process a success. Usually the turbine is on a firm foundation to prevent it
from uprooting. This way the turbine is protected from any strong force that may make
the turbine anticlockwise mechanism crumble.

Factors that determine the capacity of electricity:

Velocity: The velocity of wind always varies; sometimes it is weak and other time
strong. Even then wind turbines only operate in moderate wind and never in too weak or
too strong wind. An ideal wind velocity for a turbine to work is between 25 and 55 mph
(miles per hour). If the velocity is much lower than this then the turbines might not work
and if the velocity is over 55mph then the wind turbines have to be switched off to
prevent them from getting damaged.
Air density: The density of air determines the wind's kinetic energy. The denser the wind
the more power they possess in turning the turbines. Low attitude areas are better as they
are more than high attitude areas and therefore making them better to station the wind
turbines.
Blade radius: the larger the blade the more wind harvested and thus a blade's diameter
can substantially determine and enhance the electricity levels. Tower height: Taller
turbines are more efficient for the reasons that at higher attitudes, there is usually lesser
turbulence and more wind can be harvested at higher levels than lower attitudes.
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Mechanism of Wind Turbines:

Generating electricity from wind is relatively simple. All effective wind turbines
have often 3 blades that are aerodynamically architecture to easily create a rotating
movement as air blows. The blades spin a shaft that is linked to a generator that creates
the electricity.

The rotation mechanism – When the wind blows, the blades create a lift, similar to the
wings of airplanes and the blades begin to rotate. When the blades rotate, a low-speed
shaft is spanned 30 to 60 times in a minute. This low-speed shaft is connected with a
gearbox or a high-speed shaft that accelerates the rotation to 1000 to 1800 rotation in a
minute. The high-speed shaft drives the generator and produces electricity. The generator
is then connected to an electric power grid.

Four factors determining the electricity capacity of a wind turbine is wind velocity, tower
height, air density and blade radius.
Wind velocity determines energy generated. Wind is never even, sometimes strong and
other times weak. However, wind turbines do not operate in too strong or weak winds. If
the speed is too low, for example, below 8 miles per hour the turbines will not work. The
ideal speed is winds in the range of 25 to 55 mph. If the wind goes above 55mph the
turbine is switched off as damage can be caused.
A tall turbine is usually more efficient. There are two reasons for this, being that more
winds can be captured at higher altitudes and there is less turbulence (winds are more
constant).
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Air density determines the kinetic energy of winds. The more dense the winds the more
capacity do they have to propel the turbine to turn. In high-altitudes the air pressure is
lower, in other words the air is lighter and is thus less effective location for wind turbine
to operate. In lower-altitudes such as near the sea level, the air is dense and heavy making
it much more effective to turn the wind turbine.
The radius of the blades determines the amount of wind that can be harvested. A large
blade will be able to yield much more wind and thus the diameter of the blade can as
substantially establish power levels.

Wind Energy Advantages:

Wind Energy is a free source of energy that is available in plenty. However, it has
to be harnessed at places that have wind blowing regularly all the time. Wind power is
eco-friendly because it doesn’t produce any pollution and there is no release of any toxic
gases. In addition, more and more people are increasingly using wind power due to
increase in awareness of this never-ending, renewable source of energy. While Wind
Energy is cheaper, it doesn’t take millions of years to form, which is the case with fossil
fuels.
The following points establish the advantages of using Wind Energy.
A smaller area is required to setup wind turbines for the generation of wind
power, compared to the area required for setting up power stations. In addition, the land
used for generating wind power can be used for cattle grazing and agricultural purposes.
New developments in Wind Energy can offer solution to the issue of increase in the price
of fossil fuels like petroleum and gas, and also to the issue of green house effect.
With the increase in population, wind power is turning into an extra source of
energy as an increasing number of people turning to this cheaper source of energy. It is
also the type of energy that can be accessed by remote areas where it is expensive and
difficult to run electrical lines. Wind Energy is also increasingly being considered for
large scale production.
As per experts, if maximum wind power is harnessed, it can help generate 10
times the energy that is being used at present. When used optimally in the future, Wind
Energy can help all the countries to become independent in their energy requirements.
One of the advantages of wind energy is the fact that it is free and renewable. You can
use the wind as much as you want to and not run out of it. The fact that it creates no
pollution makes wind energy a favorable alternative energy. Among other power plants,
wind energy plants are the only one which produces neither air pollutants nor greenhouse
gases.

On the other hand, some people have voiced concerns over birds and bats killed
for flying into the turbine's rotors, as well as the noise which comes from the rotor blades.
People also feel that the wind energy turbines impact the visual beauty of an area. These
problems, however, have seen solutions through the appropriate choosing of plant sites
and the development of technology.

In the past 10 years, cost of wind power has successfully been decreased. The
technology however, asks for more preliminary investment if you compare such to
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generators fueled by fossil based energy sources. The machinery takes the biggest slice of
the cost pie, taking up 80% of the total cost while the rest cover site preparation and
installation process. When it comes to operating and fuel expenses though, the cost of
wind energy is highly favorable compared to any other technology in electricity
generating - since the turbines need no fuel and operating expenses are hardly significant.